Subject: Media Release - Militias: the fall guys?
Date: Thu, 16 Sep 1999 19:27:42 -1000EAST TIMOR HUMAN RIGHTS CENTRE 124 Napier St
Fitzroy 3065 Australia PO BOX 1413 Collingwood 3066 Australia Tel: +61 3 9415 8225 Fax:
+61 3 9415 8218 E-mail: ethrc@minihub.org Chair: Bishop Hilton Deakin Director: Ana
Noronha
Press Release 16 September 1999
Militias - the fall guys?
The East Timor Human Rights Centre (ETHRC) has confirmed that East Timorese militia
leaders believe that the Indonesian military (TNI) has plans to kill significant numbers
of militia members.
It is now clear that the current violence was systematically planned and instigated
over a long period. Militia members had knowledge of this preparation, and are now obvious
targets for the Indonesian military as it tries to eradicate evidence that the violence
was not spontaneous. Militia leaders now fear for their lives.
Earlier in the year, the ETHRC reported than men were being forced into militia groups.
These include individuals with sympathy for the pro-independence cause.
The ETHRC condemns any plans to summarily execute militia members and leaders. There
has already been a systematic destruction of records detailing the violence of the past 24
years. The Indonesian military must not be permitted to destroy further evidence of their
systematic planning for the current gross human rights violations against the East
Timorese people.
In addition, the military-backed militias are entitled to due process. The current
militarisation of East and West Timor must not be used as an opportunity to kill the
militias now that they have completed their role in the Indonesian military's plans.
Further human rights violations are not the solution to the violence.
The ETHRC repeats its calls for: · the establishment of a war crimes tribunal; · the
immediate arrest of Indonesian military, police and military-backed militia responsible
for human rights violations; · immediate and unrestricted access to be allowed to all
areas of East Timor for UN human rights monitors, international and local human rights
organisations, in order to provide ongoing human rights monitoring, and in particular to
conduct a full and impartial investigation of the recent atrocities against unarmed East
Timorese civilians.
The East Timorese Human Rights Centre is the only organisation outside East Timor
established to protect and promote the human rights of the East Timorese people. ETHRC has
been documenting human rights violations against East Timorese people since 1995.
For more information, contact Ana Noronha, Executive Director, East Timor Human Rights
Centre, on 0414 353 016.
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